


By the Stars

by MoonOwl



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Chapter 53, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Manga Spoilers, can be read as a platonic or romantic relationship, it's mostly fluff it's just a little bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-11
Updated: 2014-01-11
Packaged: 2018-01-08 08:03:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1130244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonOwl/pseuds/MoonOwl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You don't need to protect me.”</p><p>Armin smiles and looks directly at Eren. “I do. You've protected me so many times. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	By the Stars

Eren knows if Mikasa finds out that he is sneaking out, she'll scold him. He needs sleep. The squad has some big days ahead, and he personally has a lot to recover from the previous few. But, Eren also knows that he wants to talk to Armin, in private, which is a little hard to do when he is always under the watchful eyes of superiors during the day. 

He tip toes across the room where all of the boys in the squad sleep to the edge of Armin's bed. He kneels down next to the bed and reaches out his hand. As gently as he can, he nudges his sleeping friend. “Hey, hey, are you awake?” 

Armin shifts. He rubs a balled fist against his eyes and sighs away the sleep. “I am now,” he says. “What do you want?” 

“I want to go outside.”

“Eren, what's wrong with you? It's the middle of the night.” 

“I just wanted to talk to you.”

Armin can't see clearly in the dark, but he knows that Eren's already large and adorable eyes must be looking extra pitiful and sad to go with his tone of voice. He pushes away the blankets and covers and steps onto the floor. “Alright.” He says.

Eren makes a small sound of victory and grabs Armin's hand. Armin swears that he's like a little kid sometimes. As quietly as possible, they grab their shoes and coats and head for the stairs. They make it outside into the cold night air and underneath the starry sky. There's a small hill behind the headquarters perfect for star-gazing. Still holding hands, the boys walk towards the mound. 

“If Mikasa finds out she'll worry, you know,” Armin chastises after a moment. “And she has good reason to. You really need to rest.”

“Well, she won't find out. Besides, it's not like I've really done anything these past few days. It's just so stupid!” Eren practically yells out in frustration. “I'm supposed to be Humanity's Hope and I can't get hard!”

Armin stops walking and laughs. Outright bursts into a fit of giggles. 

Eren lets go of Armin's hand. He crinkles his nose and furrows his burrow in anger. “What's so funny?”

“I'm sorry,” Armin says, stifling his giggles. “It's just, funny, out of context, is all.”

Eren takes a moment to think about what he just said. He slams his palm against his forehead when he realizes the innuendo in his choice of phrasing. “Fuck, Armin, it's not that funny.” 

“Come on, it is,” Armin pleads. “Just a little? We haven't had anything to laugh at in ages.” 

Eren inhales deeply through his nose. On one hand, Armin has a point. They've been living in some pretty depressing conditions the past few months—correction, their entire lives. But on the other hand, Eren is really struggling with this. He's let the everyone down. 

Eren's facial features perk up with the arrival of an incoming thought. “When Captain Levi said I'm not big enough for the hole, I totally should have told him that neither is he.” He shoots Armin a sly grin, who chuckles in response. Eren begins to laugh as well, and before the boys know it, they're both collapsed on the grass in a fit of giggles. 

“Oh, God, he would have killed you.” Armin says when he finally stops laughing. 

“I don't even think Mikasa would have saved my ass if I said something as stupid as that.” Eren says as he lays down on the field. “God, we're like school kids again, laughing at our own crude jokes.”

Armin turns his head to looks at Eren.“I, for the record, never made jokes like this as a kid.”

“Hey, but you're the one who started this!” Eren says, pulling out a fistful of grass and throwing it at Armin. 

Armin laughs again, throwing his hands up to the side of his face to defend himself from the incoming blades of grass.

“Man, it feels nice to laugh again, like legitimate laughter, not nervous laughs because everyone is watching you.” 

Armin bites his lower lip in thought. “Even if we give up our humanity sometimes, we have to remain human. Otherwise what's the point?”

Eren hovers his open palms above the sides of his face in amazement. “How do you always say stuff like that? All deep and shit? We're making dick jokes and you say something like that.” 

Armin adjusts his position so he's looking straight up at the sky. He folds his hands over his stomach and shrugs his shoulders. “I don't know why. I just like thinking, I suppose.” 

Eren looks curiously at Armin for a moment. He studies his features as he looks upwards at the stars. He looks like he's deep in thought. Eren thinks that Armin looks best like this, when he's in his element. 

“Tomorrow is going to be a big day,” he says after a moment, digging his hand into the grass again. “They're sending Jean to be me, fucking again. Everyone's gonna see right through it.” He finishes in a harsh tone while pulling a fistful of grass out of the ground. 

“You really don't like being told he looks like you.” Armin laughs, still looking up at the sky. “You don't get offended at being told you both look like criminals, just at being compared to him.”

“He's got a stupid face to match his stupid fucking self.” 

“He's not as bad now as he was when we were trainees, you have to admit.”

“Doesn't matter, he's still an ass.” Eren picks apart at blades of grass with his fingers. Eren's face softens after a second. He looks over at Armin with concern. He reaches out a hand to hold onto Armin's. “How do you feel about the Commander's plan, anyways?”

Armin frowns and gives Eren's hand a squeeze. “I'm not too happy about dressing up like Historia, but I'll do it if I get to help protect you.” 

“You don't need to protect me.”

Armin smiles and looks directly at Eren. “I do. You've protected me so many times. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't? I want to be useful to the Scouting Legion too.”

“You've always been useful. You know, I bet someday you're going to be Commander.” Eren starts picking at the grass again. “And you're a good kind of friend, anyways. Hey, look up at that!” quickly, he changes the subject, pointing up at the night sky. “That's a constellation, right? What's it called again?”

Armin squints his eyes in order to find out where exactly Eren is pointing to. “That's Orion,” He answers, relaxing his eyes. “I'm surprised you remember that. I haven't read about constellations to you in a while.”

Eren playfully pushes Armin's shoulder. “Of course I remember that. I could never forget it. What kind of friend would I be if I did?” 

Armin smiles at Eren's comment. 

They've always liked stars. Armin likes reading about almost any thing, but stars had their special place in the boys' hearts. They're far beyond the walls, yet they can still see them, unlike the fiery volcanoes and deep oceans and icy plains they want to see. Armin says he read in a book that the stars at night are so far beyond the planet that closest one to them is the Sun. Eren thought it made no sense. “How is the sun a star if it's out in the day?” he would ask, to which Armin would answer saying that since the Earth is so close to the Sun, it makes the atmosphere too bright to see the other stars, unless their side of the Earth isn't facing the sun. Eren always asks Armin “why” multiple times, partially because he has a hard time understanding everything the first time, and partially because he loves hearing Armin explain subjects he's so passionate about. 

“I wanna go to the stars with you someday, and with Mikasa too,” Eren says. “After we defeat the Titans and go everywhere else, of course.”

Armin smiles. “You can't, they're too hot, you'd die. Besides how are you going to reach them?”

“'Dunno,” he says. “Somehow. I mean, there's an entire race of giants trying to eat us for no reason. I think anything is possible.” 

“You're reckless.”

“I think I'm just determined,” he replies with a smile. “Maybe we can live in the stars” 

“You're out of your mind.” 

Eren flashes his brightest smile. “I don't think that's such a bad thing.”


End file.
